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Jail sentence of Canadian journalist in Egypt sparks outrage

OTTAWA—The sentencing of three Al-Jazeera journalists, including an Egyptian-Canadian dual citizen, to seven years in prison sparked international outrage Monday.

Western politicians and human rights advocates condemned a Cairo court’s decision that found the journalists guilty of terrorism-related offences for their coverage of
Muslim Brotherhood protests
last year.

Mohamed Fahmy, and Egyptian-Canadian dual citizen and Al-Jazeera’s acting bureau chief in Cairo, along with Australian reporter Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed, each face seven years in a maximum security prison.

But while British, U.S., and Australian politicians decried the verdict and called for the immediate release of the trio, Canada’s statement reaffirming consular support had critics demanding Ottawa take a more direct role — including an intervention from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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Egyptian authorities contend the three men conspired with the outlawed Brotherhood, producing inflammatory news reports during last year’s protests of the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. The case provoked widespread international criticism, particularly due to the lack of evidence presented by Egyptian authorities to support the charges.

“There is no incriminating evidence with regard to the charges and there were multiple procedural shortcomings (during the trial),” David Drake, Canada’s ambassador to Egypt, told reporters in Cairo. “Therefore, we do not understand the verdict.”

Drake, along with his counterparts from Britain and Australia, called the verdict a blow to press freedom and pledged to step up diplomatic efforts to free the men.

“The prosecution of journalists for reporting information that does not coincide with the government of Egypt’s narrative flouts the most basic standards of media freedom and represents a blow to democratic progress in Egypt,” the statement read.

“We call on the Egyptian government to pardon these individuals or commute their sentences so they can be released immediately, and grant clemency for all politically motivated sentences — starting with the other defendants in this trial.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, asserting the Australian citizen’s innocence. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was “appalled” by the sentences, while British Foreign Secretary William Hague called them “unacceptable.”

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In Ottawa, the Conservatives were more muted in their condemnation. Lynne Yelich, the junior minister responsible for consular affairs, issued a brief statement calling on the Egyptian government to respect the rights of “all individuals, including journalists.”

“Canada is very disappointed with the verdict in the case of Mohamed Fahmy and is concerned that the judicial process that led to his verdict,” the statement read.

“A fair and transparent legal system is a critical pillar of a stable and democratic Egypt.”

Ottawa did not call for Fahmy’s release, but said consular officials will continue to work with Egyptian authorities to ensure his medical needs are met.

“We can’t influence the (Egyptian) court, and it’s not our place to. But we certainly can send a very clear, coherent message of what we want to see,” Dewar said in an interview. “We want to see Mr. Fahmy returned . . . . So that means very strong statements from our government at the top, not just from a minister of state, and that we see continuing engagement as the appeal process continues.”

A request for comment from Jason MacDonald, Harper’s director of communications, was not returned Monday afternoon.

The three journalists were arrested in a December 2013 raid on their makeshift offices in a Cairo hotel. The arrests were part of a larger crackdown that saw hundreds of Brotherhood supporters killed in the streets and many more arrested, a crackdown that occurred under el-Sissi’s tenure as defence minister.

Amnesty International called Monday’s verdict a “
dark day for media freedom
,” and said Egyptian authorities had failed to provide “a single shred of solid evidence” that the journalists were engaged in anything other than their doing their jobs.

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